Alone Again
1175 Words
Lissana Mons
“No! No! No! Neel, are you okay? Dude, hey?” He’s not answering, but the blood is spreading! I gotta get us to land! Ah, s**t um… There! I think it’s finally the entrance to the caves! Hang in there, bud, you’ll be okay.
“Hrm, ah, Lissana? Wait-hey?”
“Oh Imus! Thank Luna, you’re conscious! You’re bleeding! I don’t know where, but we’re almost on land!”
“I’m not the one who’s bleeding! You are!’’ Whoa, wait. Huh? ‘’Now let me take you. Don't exert any more energy.”
Huh? Wait now that he’s mentioned it…my leg hurts a bit but…oh, so I overreacted.
“Oof! You’re heavy. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to rip a bit of your shirt.”
“H-hey you wait--” Riiiiippppp. “I TOLD YOU TO WAIT!”
“You got bitten! Some stubborn piranha bit your leg! Look at this! If I don’t apply first aid now I’ll have to feed you to them! Now stay quiet.”
Well, that’s a perfectly good shirt ruined. He’s lucky Mers don’t wear anything, or I would have ripped his shirt up too. Sigh, well at least he’s okay. I’d feel like s**t if something bad ever happened to him.
“This might tickle a bit. I’m gonna try and heal it. This is my first time healing a wound so don’t expect the best.”
“Okay.”
So this is how Mers heal, with water and whispery words. I’m just now noticing his shiny palms. They look like he plastered on tiny beach stars on them. Man, wow. It’s like a mosaic. Art finds a way to involve itself in everything.
“Are you done?”
“You saw my little hand lights right? But I couldn’t heal the scars. I’ll do better next time.”
“Ha! What ‘next time’? You can’t walk on land, you amateur Mer-Were!”
“Are you implying that you’ll get hurt more when we separate?”
“Of course not! This might not come as a shock to you, but I’m the Alpha of my pack. I’ve more than enough Appellations to protect three people.”
“You have the Appellations, but your brain’s a bit laggy. Protect yourself first, then you can worry about others. ”
“...okay.”
“I’ll stay with you until you decide to leave. I’ll go get us some fruit. All that swimming and healing has me starved.”
He’ll stay with me until I decide to leave? I hope it’s because he wants to and not because it’s part of his Mer-business.If I leave the caves, will I remember any of the things that happened here?
“Here you go. A bunch of fruit berries. These taste a bit different because it’s closer to the caves.”
“Hey, what happens when I leave? I won’t forget you, will I?”
“No, you won’t, but you won’t be able to talk about meeting a Mer-Were though.”
“Man.”
“Don’t be discouraged. It’s for the best for both our kinds.…you know, when Cocoo brought you down here I was sure you were going to die, from both the curse and the injuries you sustained, but you managed to survive. How’d you get so beat up?”
“I wanted to protect a girl.”
“Oh~Did you?”
“I sure as damn tried. My members helped me out in the end. There’s still so much I need to do. They’re all probably really worried…again…ugh”
“Hey, hold your head up high, miss alpha! You just survived an extremely precarious curse cleansing process. I’m still in disbelief that you survived. You’re definitely a fighter in both mind and spirit.”
“Yeah? My spirit is pretty invincible, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t say invincible, but you’re definitely close. Your intentions are as pure as they come.”
“Now you’re just saying things.”
“There’s only one thing that has me apprehensive about you and that is the way the glass slugs reacted earlier, that was not supposed to happen. ”
“Dude! Those little bastards bit me so hard I thought they teared through my skin! Did the Elemental guy heal what they ripped out?”
“Öh no,no,no,no, no,no, hahaha,no.”
“What?”
“Those slugs can only eat curses, they seem to have found another curse inside.”
“Oh. Uh…if…if you’re asking me if I know anything about that, I’m not sure what to tell you.”
“Aren’t you worried at all? Your very existence--”
“That’s my problem. It’s not as problematic as you think. Trust me?”
“Sigh, sorry I shouldn’t have pried. You’re right of course! I can only support you and bid you the best.”
“Damn straight. ”
“Can I ask you for one more thing?”
“What?”
“Let’s embrace.”
“!!! Embrace?! Oh! You’re already doing it. That wasn't even a question, you i***t. ”
He’s a bit tinier than me, I could crush his head with my biceps, but I shouldn’t. Hug, hug, hug. I miss this feeling. Nike, I miss you so much.
“Welp! I pray our paths would align again someday. But please don’t get cursed again. I get the feeling that you were just a tad bit lucky. You’ll die for sure the next time.”
“Wow, thanks. How are you going to get back?”
“Tunnels. If I wasn’t dragging you around I would’ve evaded the piranhas easy. Make sure to protect yourself. The caves are a lot more dangerous than you think.”
“Okay, thanks. Bye.”
“Bring some of the fruits! And don’t attack anyone unless they attack you first!”
“Yes! Yes! I get it, I’ll be fine. See you around, Neel!”
"Bye, Lissana!" Pfft.
By all the seas and the wind trades, I hope we’ll meet each other again someday. I really do. Goodbye, Neel.
- Writer
